On May 17-23, 2021, the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM) launched the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week in the Republic of Moldova, which is calling for 30km/h speed limits to be the new norm for cities, towns and villages worldwide.
This UN Week gave Moldovan community the opportunity to obtain political commitments at local and national level to set speed limits of 30 km/h in urban areas with a high concentration of vulnerable road users; to generate local assistance for implementation of the necessary measures for low-speed streets to create safe, healthy, green and livable cities. The Week also marked the beginning of the 2nd Decade of Action for Road Safety for 2021-2030, aiming to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030. Lower speeds will be vital to reaching this goal.
To establish a baseline at the start of the Decade of Action on what the public feel about speeding, a survey was conducted in April-May 2021. Moldovan citizens were surveyed to learn the public opinion on lowering the speeding limit to 30 km/h in local urban roads at high risk for vulnerable road users, including areas around schools and near other public interest institutions. The survey was conducted within the "Working towards policy change for Safe School Zones'' project, launched in Moldova by the ACM, with the support of the Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) and the FIA Foundation. Thus, for EASST, this Road Safety Week marked the beginning of a new long-term project supported by the FIA Foundation’s Advocacy Hub in which EASST will be working towards the reduction of speed limits to 30 km/h around schools and on routes to school across nine partner countries.
The results of the survey can be found here.
A round table was organised by ACM at the municipal level with the participation of Deputy Mayor Victor Chironda and involvement of the Departments of Education, Transport and Health, as well as representatives of the Executive Bureau of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), National Inspectorate for Public Security, the United Nations Development Program Moldova, the directors of two high schools in the capital (“Ștefan cel Mare” and “Universul”), Center for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Working Group on Alternative Transport and Civil Society. The Deputy Mayor and the heads of departments present at the discussion offered their support for this initiative, confirming the necessary involvement in carrying out the activities in lowering the speed limits to 30 km/h in school zones.
Victor Chironda: “I support the global road safety campaign, as well as the limitation of the legal speed of 30km/h in the adjacent schools and other educational institutions. At the same time, I would like to mention that discussions are taking place to implement the 30km/h as a legal norm in the historical central areas of Chisinau”.
At national level, the second round table was organized, involving the responsible Ministries, the Executive Bureau of NRCS, international financial institutions and other members of the National Council Road Safety. Discussions on road safety issues in Moldova were held, especially on speeding in areas with increased flow of pedestrians and vulnerable road users, including educational and medical institutions. An action plan is needed to improve road crash statistics and develop a new road safety strategy, in line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2020-2030.
During the same period, the ACM together with the “Oratorul” Theater and the Education, Youth and Sports Department of Chisinau organized flashmobs with the participation of pupils, to raise public awareness and the authorities to the need for interventions in securing areas around schools, providing children with a safe "home-school" route. Additionally, online meetings were conducted by the ACM and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research with teachers and parents on road safety and risks faced by their children daily, near school and at home. The ACM delivered a road safety training demonstrating that high-speed streets can save lives as well as provide a safe environment for development and mobility.
In addition to the above, the Automobile Club of Moldova has signed an open letter, calling on the public authorities to take urgent and immediate action for #StreetsForLife.
ACM representatives gave several interviews to various TV stations, as well as participated in TV shows, to promote the legal speed limit of 30km/h in school zones.
The local celebrities and other famous personalities did not remain indifferent to our initiative, thus organizing events with their involvement, thus demonstrating their support for #Love30 action.
To support the UN Global Road Safety Week, EASST released a short video to kick off the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety by reducing speed limits in urban areas - especially near schools - to 30 km/h. This short animated video invites drivers to think about children and LOWER THEIR SPEED. Speed and children don’t mix.
All actions during the UN Global Road Safety Week in Moldova were aimed at raising public awareness and decision-makers to the speeding issue as the main risk factor and the leading cause of deaths and injuries resulting from road crashes, as well as the identifying measure into solving this problem both locally and nationally.
Main media coverage:
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